Second zoo for Orissa in Sambalpur

Second zoo for Orissa in Sambalpur
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

BHUBANESWAR, SEPT 25: The Orissa government today said that a second zoo would be set up in the state and the tigers and African lions being shifted to Andhra Pradesh presently will be brought back and rehabilitated at the second zoo planned near Sambalpur town in Western Orissa.

Official sources said the decision had been taken following widespread concern over the shifting of 27 tigers and lions from Nandankanan to Sambalpur, the sources said adding that Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had instructed the officials to complete the work on a war-footing.

A 14-year old lion died of exhaustion while being shifted from Nandan Kanan to Visakhapatnam on Saturday. However it was said that the other big cats were healthy.

The new zoo, which is yet to get the mandatory clearance from the Central Zoo Authority (CZA), will be developed on an area of 120 acres at Laxmi Dungri between Sambalpur and Burla town on the National Highway No 6. It is likely to have a tiger safari, a lion safari and a deer safari.

There is a move on to relocate 12 tigers, five of them white and 15 African lions to zoos at Visakhapatnam and Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh according to the decision taken at the Fourth Consultative Committee meeting relating to the Union Environment and Forest Ministry recently.

The decision was taken in a bid to reduce congestion in the zoo following the recent death of 13 tigers in the Nandankanan park.

The move to shift big cats had evoked strong public resentment here with the Congress MLA Suresh Routray declaring yesterday that the inhabitants of over 60 villages around the zoo would oppose the shifting of the tigers and lions.

Nandankanan is part of the Jatni assembly constituency represented by Routray. Agitating under the banner of Nandankanan Surakhya Samiti, the villagers led by Routray staged a demonstration outside the zoo's main entrance today opposing the shifting of the animals and demanding a judicial probe into the death of a lion during transit.

They also demanded revamping of the zoo management.

He alleged that the report of the CZA inquiry teamwhich visited the zoo in July, following the tiger deaths had turned out to be an eyewash and was intended to shield the guilty officials.